What Dreams May Come
by hermionepuckle
Summary: Ron is worried about the feelings he's started to get around Hermione. Rated PG


Title: What Dreams May Come…  
**Rating:** PG13  
**Ships:** Ron/Hermione (Harry/Ginny in background)  
**Word Count:** 6532  
**Warnings:** None.  
**Notes:** I found this on my laptop. I haven't seen it for years; I wrote it after reading OotP I think. I think it was my first ever go at writing any sort of fan fiction. I went through and tried to punctuate it a little better but I've left the plot exactly how it was. It's not the best but I think it's pretty sweet albeit a bit a lot cheesy.

It was Christmas afternoon and everyone was sitting eating dinner. It had been a great day all in all, Ron thought to himself.

He had woken early that morning to find Harry already awake, at the foot of his bed, with most of his presents already unwrapped. He had joined Harry to open his own gifts. His mother had sent him the usual package of a few mince pies and a maroon jumper and although he hated the fact that it was maroon once again, he pulled it on over his pyjamas. It always reminded him of home, and although he didn't like to admit it, he missed being away from his mum and dad. He was secretly frightened that something terrible would happen to them while he was at Hogwarts. Ron shook himself out of the daydream; they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

Harry had given him a book on a muggle game called "Football". Ron often stared at the posters of West Ham next to Dean's bed and thought how strange it was that the pictures did not move. How anyone could be interested in pictures in which the people were stationary baffled him, but he was eager to know what Dean and many muggle boys found so fascinating about this "sport".

Hermione had given both Ron and Harry a set of sugar quills each, maybe she thought they might do a little more work with them. The tag said, "Love Hermione xxx". Ron smiled to himself.

After having opened all the presents they went to join Hermione in the common room and sat for a while by the fire, all in their pyjamas, discussing presents, what they were planning to do with the rest of their holiday etc.

When they had finally got dressed, Ron still sporting his maroon jumper, they all went outside, wrapped up in coats, gloves, hats and scarves to have a huge snowball fight. All the Gryffindor's, even Hermione, who usually sat watching and tutting, joined in. Most of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff joined in too, while Slytherin gathered near to the entrance scowling at them all.

By dinnertime everybody was famished, as many had skipped breakfast and lunch to carry on with the battle. They all rushed into the entrance hall, dripping wet, with numb hands and red-faced with the cold.

Harry and Hermione sat on one side of the table while Ginny and Ron sat opposite them. They all stuffed themselves with all kinds of different Christmas foods. Hermione seemed to have temporarily forgotten about how much work the house elves had put into making it. Dinner seemed to last forever. Between mouthfuls, in Ron's case during mouthfuls too, they discussed the snowball fight.

"That was hilarious, Ron, when you tried to throw that huge one at me and it missed and hit Malfoy in the back of the head, his face, priceless!" Harry laughed loudly, and most of the Gryffindor table joined in. Ron looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy in the middle of a small huddle of people.

_Probably thinking of a way to get back at me_, Ron thought to himself. He gulped. He wasn't really frightened, not of Malfoy on his own anyway... but he knew what kind of influence Malfoy could have on other students. He saw Hermione glance across the table at him; he felt his ears begin to burn slightly and forced a smile.

"Don't worry," she told him, placing her hand gently on top of his. But Ron had already forgotten what he was worrying about, he opened his mouth to question her, but no words came out. Ron was now worrying about something else, something much worse. He was worried about the feeling he had started to get recently whenever she was around. The butterflies he got in his stomach and how his heartbeat quickened, every time he looked into those dark brown eyes.

Hermione must have noticed how uneasy he felt, because her hand shot away from his and she looked a little puzzled. Ron withdrew his hand from the table and continued to shovel Christmas pudding and custard into his mouth, staring at the table. He didn't look at Hermione again while they were eating, but he could feel her eyes burning intensely into the side of his head. He felt awkward, but it would be so much more uncomfortable if he looked at her again.

Hermione, Harry and Ginny got up to leave the Great Hall. Ron followed in silence. He watched Harry and Ginny holding hands. He thought about how angry he had been at the start of the year to discover that his best friend had been writing letters to his little sister throughout the whole summer. They had kept it secret from him and he had been extremely bothered by it. He had not spoken to Harry for over a month.

He didn't know why it bothered him; it had been clear for a long time that they both liked each other a lot. He supposed he was jealous. He thought Ginny was going to take Harry away from him and that Harry would forget about him. But even when Ron was determined not to talk to him, Harry would always make an effort to start up a conversation. Harry knew he wasn't doing anything wrong, but he certainly didn't want to lose Ron, his best friend, his first ever friend. He decided to tell Ginny that they couldn't do anything about the way they felt for each other. Ginny was heart broken. She missed meals, and hardly spoke to Ron; she too understood how he must feel, but it couldn't stop the fact that she was in love with Harry.

Just a fortnight ago had been the night when Ron had told Harry that whatever he decided to do; Ron would always be his best friend. Harry was relieved but took things extremely slowly with Ginny, especially in front of Ron.

After a few days, Ron had begun to see just how perfect they were for each other, but he told Harry that he would regret it if he ever hurt her. This was the first time Ron had every felt any extreme brotherly feelings, but when they flooded through him, he felt good and brave that he was so protective of her, but it felt a bit strange that it was Harry he had to threaten.

They reached the entrance to the Great Hall and found themselves facing Malfoy and his cronies.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't Potty and the Weasel!" he sneered.

"Leave them alone," Hermione growled, the first to draw her wand. She pointed it at him and he backed away slightly.

"_What_ is that?" Malfoy shouted, pointing at the maroon jumper which could be seen now that Ron had the front of his coat open. Malfoy let out a long, high cackle. Ron's ears blushed crimson and covering the jumper with his coat, he tried to think of something to retaliate with, but Hermione got there first. She threw her wand onto the floor and put her fist right in front of Malfoy's face, holding onto his collar.

"Don't make me hit you _again_, Draco!" She whispered through gritted teeth.

"I…," he whimpered, clearing his throat. He pushed Hermione off, "How dare you touch me, Mudblood!" He then turned to Ron, "Of course, Weasley, I should have known, if it's not second hand, then it must be home made."

Malfoy turned to walk away but Ron jumped forwards and knocked him over. Neither Harry nor Hermione did anything to stop him until Ron had punched Malfoy twice in the jaw, and Crabbe and Goyle were edging towards him. Whilst they were fussing over Malfoy, Harry dragged Ron upstairs a bit, away from them. Ron stormed off, red-faced with infuriation.

He reached The Fat Lady and snapped the password at her. He found the common room totally empty and threw himself onto a couch, face down. He breathed slowly and heavily. Malfoy was so unbelievably annoying, abut he had let him know he bothered him, that was even more irritating. At least he'd had the last laugh… but tomorrow he'd have the whole of Slytherin hassling him.

He heard whispers from the portrait hole and looked up to see the others.

"You alright mate?" Harry asked.

"Mmmm," he answered. Harry knew better than to push him any more. He had shown he cared, yet hadn't expected too much. He respected Harry for this; however, he knew Hermione would not be so easily pleased. Ginny and Harry walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. He was left alone with Hermione. _Great_, he thought to himself, rolling his eyes, just what he needed. The day has started out so wonderfully, where had it all gone wrong?

"You sure you're OK?" Hermione prompted, sitting next to him on the sofa.

"Yeah… Just lost my temper that's all," Ron shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, I can't really say I blame you, he's a nasty peace of work," Hermione scowled, "really evil."

"Only just worked that one out have you?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"No Ron," she smiled, "I think I realised that a long time ago." When she had smiled at him, Ron had felt a very strange feeling. He felt like he'd just had that electricity stuff passed through him, all the way from where his feet were, on the floor, to the tips of his fingers and his hair. It shocked him, but no matter how much he wanted to look away from Hermione, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Again, all his worries had turned to the feeling he was getting at this very second. He had never noticed how pretty her face was before. Yeah, her hair could get out of control sometimes, but when she put it back and you could see her face properly, she was very pretty. _Oh my God_, Ron thought to himself, _what's happening_? Ron forced his gaze towards his hands, which were resting in his lap and begin examining his fingernails.

"Ignore him Ron, don't pay any attention to him, he's not worth it," she told him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Ron jumped. "On the other hand, you'll probably get into a lot of trouble for this.

He's bound to have a bruise or something from when you punched him, _and_ he had witnesses."

Ron frowned, his attention now turned back to Malfoy, "What was I supposed to do, just let him slag off my family, and pretend it didn't bother me?"

"Yes, you were. The only reason he taunts you is because he knows it upsets you."

"It… It doesn't _upset _me!"

"Ron, you don't have to pretend nothing bothers you, of course it upsets you. It would upset anyone."

"I didn't deny it bothered me, it didn't upset me; I wasn't going to cry or anything." Ron stood up.

Hermione stood up too. "Ron, don't be so petty, I didn't mean you were going to cry! You don't have to try to be big and strong all the time; you _can _show your sensitive side occasionally you know?" She said forcefully.

"What if I don't _want_ to show my sensitive side Hermione? What if I _want _to be big and strong all the time?I have five big, strong brothers. _Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Percy was Head Boy. Fred and George messed around a lot, but everyone thinks they're really funny. I've got to live up to those standards! It's not easy! What if I don't want to be like them, what if I just want to be myself?" _He screamed.

The fact was: he wasn't like them. He wasn't clever or, big and strong. He didn't feel big and strong at all, he felt stupid and sensitive, too sensitive sometimes. He often cried; just never in front of people, especially not Hermione_. "__Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've had Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat!"_

He knew he was lucky to have such a big family who cared so much about him, and did the best for him, but sometimes he wished he could have a new broomstick, or new robes or something. Something he could say was actually his.

Hermione and Ron often fought, and usually over small trivial things, however, once or twice, they had had huge arguments, after which Ron had escaped to the comfort of his bed, the drapes drawn across, lying in silence as the tears fell onto his pillow. Even before Ron had started to realise he had further feelings for Hermione...

The worst by far had been two years ago after the Yule Ball when they had had an argument about Hermione's date. Hermione had told him to ask her to the ball straight away next time, "_and not as a last resort._"

Just his name made Ron's skin crawl. Viktor Krum. He had never actually _done_ anything to Ron, but just being there had been enough. He had taken Hermione's attention for most of the year and then had taken her to the Yule Ball, causing Ron to abandon his own date all night to keep an eye on Hermione and "Vicky", as Ron liked to call him.

This is when Ron had truly realised he felt something a lot more than friendship for Hermione, but he had denied it to himself and pushed it to the back of his mind, until he couldn't deny it any more. That had been during the time when he hadn't been speaking to Harry. He had spent a lot more time with Hermione and they had gotten a lot closer than they had ever been. Ron still tried to deny it; but it was no use. He could never tell anyone though; he must keep it to himself forever. He had no chance with her. She was pretty, clever and had been his best friend, _only_ his friend, for nearly six years.

It worried him, how much his feelings for her had changed in such a short space of time. He couldn't help but watch her every time he thought no one was looking. He couldn't help that every time she entered a room, he panicked and his heart seemed to skip a beat. He couldn't help that every time she touched him he felt a bolt of energy run throughout his entire body. He couldn't help that he fell asleep during class because he couldn't sleep at night; he was kept awake by just the thought of her. And on the rare occasions that he did sleep, he couldn't help that he dreamt about telling her exactly how he felt and touching her and her touching him back. He felt constantly exhausted, and constantly hurting.

They both stood in the middle of the common room not knowing what to say. Ron's eyes were stinging and he swallowed hard to try to get rid of the lump creeping up his throat. He looked down at the floor and started to silently move towards the stairs to the dormitory.

"Erm…Goodnight then," Hermione said clumsily, not knowing what else she could say.

"Yeah… Night," Ron forced, his voice cracking. He sped up when he reached the stairs, and frowned, determined not to let out, the small ball of frustration that was now building up inside of him.

When he reached the dormitory Harry and Ginny were sat on the bed kissing. They jumped apart when Ron entered. "Carry on," he advised them, waving his hand at them.

But Ginny got up, kissed Harry quickly but softy on the lips and then muttering, "Sweet dreams Ron," left the room.

"Want to talk about it, mate?" Harry enquired.

"Nah," Ron breathed, fearing he would explode it he opened his mouth too wide.

"Alright then, night." And with that Harry sat down to read a book which he picked off his bedside table and drew the curtains around his bed.

Ron sat on the edge of his bed; he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He breathed deeply for about a minute and then changed into his pyjamas. He lay down and he too, drew his curtains. He closed his eyes and once again her face haunted him. He could see her standing there, looking at him, her eyes were longing for him. He wished it was the reality, but he knew it was all in his mind, that he only _wished_ she would feel the same way about her. He felt his heart being pulled apart by some devious force inside his chest, and a tear ran without a sound down his cheek onto the pillow. He couldn't hold it in any longer, he had to let it out; he felt like he was going to burst. He turned to bury his head in the pillow to stifle the small sobs. He stayed like that for about 10 minutes and then turned over to lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, totally still, his face stained from the tears.

He must have drifted off to sleep, the next thing he knew he had woken up sweaty and his heart beating rapidly after just having that dream again. He had told her how he felt; she had reached up and touched his face. She smiled, and Ron felt like all his Christmas's had come at once, she leaned in to him… she was about five centimetres away from his face… she was going to kiss him… he closed his eyes… and opened them to find himself starting into the darkness of the dormitory.

"What an _idiot_!" Ron cursed to himself. He slapped his forehead as though trying to destroy the memory of the dream and how silly it had been. He pulled back the curtains and looked at the clock; it was three in the morning. He lay there for another thirty minutes or so but no matter how hard he tried, he could not sleep. He stood up, put on his slippers and crept out of the room. He didn't know what he was going to do at half past three in the morning, on his own in the common room, but he couldn't lie there in the dark any more. Maybe he could start the homework that Snape had given them for the holidays to take his mind off things.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced over to the table. He saw a few books and a small wad of parchment. Next to it was a mound of brown bushy hair. Hermione was sleeping, her head in her arms on the table. Ron groaned. He walked over to the table and glanced at the parchment she had been writing on…

"_Dear Viktor…"_

Ron gritted his teeth. Vicky! He turned to go and sit on the couch, but stopped before he had really begun. He turned back around to face Hermione. He wanted to know what sort of thing she talked about to him, how she could sit there and write pieces of parchment, sometimes three foot long, to someone she hardly knew.

"_Happy Christmas! Hope you had a marvellous day. Most of mine has been great. The whole school was outside having a snowball fight. It was fun, I even joined in for once, and I always thought it was a little childish but once I gave it a go I found it was very enjoyable. We missed breakfast and lunch because we were all having so much fun_."

Hermione then launched into a hugely, detailed description about all the snowballs she had thrown and who she had hit with them. Ron laughed to himself at how proud Hermione was that she had actually been good at something that she hadn't learnt from a book. Then he spotted his name in the middle of the page.

"_Ron has great hand-eye co-ordination, he hit his target every time except once, but that was only because Harry moved out of the way. But guess who it got instead? Draco. We found it quite amusing at the time but then he got annoyed at Ron and provoked him by teasing him about being poor_."

Ron felt anger brewing inside him. How dare she talk to Viktor about him being teased! How dare she tell him about how poor he was! Ron felt his face redden as the blood rushed to his cheeks.

"_Ron lashed out and I feel so bad, I didn't do a thing to stop him. He did deserve the punch Ron gave him, but Ron is very strong and there is bound to be a mark left there."_

Ron's anger turned to embarrassment mixed with pride. She thought he was strong.

"_Plus, Draco is certainly going to exaggerate about what happened, and he had witnesses so I'm really worried about what sort of trouble Ron will be in tomorrow. I spoke to Ron afterwards, when we were alone and I think I came across a bit… bossy. He feels like he has to compete with his brothers. I feel so sorry for him, he should know that everyone loves him just the way he is."_

Ron was confused he didn't know whether to be happy or angry at what Hermione had written.

"_To be honest, I prefer the sensitive Ron. __He always ends up annoying me when he pretends to be tough because I know that isn't really him. It always ends in an argument. I don't like him like that… I love him, but I don't like him very much. I think he does it on purpose sometimes. Maybe it is just all in my head? What do you think?  
_

_Maybe I'm imagining it because of what I told you in my last letter, maybe I'm just being too sensitive, he's been my best friend for over five years, he wouldn't annoy me on purpose. I know I'm annoying but after all this time… he's got to like me, even if it is just as a friend._

_Anyway, I'm getting rather tired now so I'm going to go and get some sleep, or rather try to get some sleep._

_Write back soon Viktor._

_Love Hermione x_"

Ron sat down on the chair next to Hermione's, the letter still in his hand. He read the last part again:

_Maybe I'm imagining it because of what I told you in my last letter, maybe I'm just being too sensitive, he's been my best friend for over five years, he wouldn't annoy me on purpose. __I know I'm annoying but after all this time… he's got to like me, __**even if it is just as a friend**_

What did she mean… just as a friend? Of course he liked her… what could make her doubt that? As far as he remembered they usually only argued about trivial things, things of little importance. He still liked her. Well… still loved her. Ron scanned the letter again.

_I don't like him like that… __**I love him**__, but I don't like him very much. I think he does it on purpose sometimes._

She loved him? Well… of course. She loved him like she loved Harry. He put the letter down. Ron was extremely confused and the more he tried to make sense of the letter, the more confused he became.

"We really shouldn't! We're prefects!" Hermione muttered in her sleep. Ron jumped up and went to stand next to Hermione. She breathed deeply and smiled. He knelt on the floor next to her, willing her to say something else. She giggled. What could we be doing? Ron thought to himself, slightly excited. He didn't know why, but he felt like he was going to throw up, he had butterflies. "Ron, stop it," she giggled again, "okay, just a little one," she whispered. Ron gasped and Hermione's eyes flew open. Ron fell backwards onto the floor and banged his head on a stool.

"Owww," he moaned, rubbing the back of his head. Then he stood up quickly. Hermione was wide awake.

"Ron… what are you doing?" She looked at the clock. "It's four O'clock in the morning!"

"Erm… I… Erm… I couldn't sleep so I came down here and erm… I found you asleep on the table."

"What were you kneeling down for?" She asked, puzzled.

"I… I dropped something."

"What did you drop?" She stood up and began looking under the table for something that shouldn't have been there. There was nothing.

"Well… Erm… Well, when I say I dropped something, I mean I… I heard a thud and thought something might have fallen off the table or something. It might have been you in your sleep though, you were talking."

Hermione looked terrified, she forced a giggle. "What did I say?"

"I couldn't understand you really," Ron lied, "you were just mumbling, I think I heard the word prefect in there but that was about it." Ron forced a smile.

"Oh, well, that's good."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Oh, nothing important really," she stared at the floor and sat down. "Listen Ron… I'm really sorry about before, I was a bit insensitive and I think I came across a little bossy. I didn't mean to be… I just… I just don't want you to get into trouble; I was only trying to look out for you."

"Nah," said Ron, running his right hand through his scruffy hair, "It's me who needs to apologise, I shouldn't have shouted at you like that, and I definitely shouldn't have hit Malfoy, it was my own fault, I shouldn't let him get to me… like you said, he's not worth it." Ron sat on the arm of the couch and sighed.

"I understand though, I mean, I was ready to hit him any second then." Ron looked up and smiled a little. "How dare he speak about you like that?" Hermione clenched her teeth and scowled.

Ron felt really warm inside; she had been sticking up for him. She obviously cared for him. "Thanks Hermione."

"For what?"

"You know, looking out for me," he shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh…" Hermione blushed, "What are friends for?"

_Friends_. The word felt like a dagger in Ron's chest. He felt like Hermione had just ripped out his heart and torn it up right in front of him. He lay back on the couch and covered his eyes, which were tingling again.

They stayed in silence for about 10 minutes, and Ron could no longer bear it. He racked his brains for a conversation topic; he sat up to see Hermione putting the letter into an envelope.

"Who's that for?" He asked, deliberately.

"Oh… No one."

Ron frowned. "Obviously it's for someone, Hermione."

"Obviously. Erm… Viktor, it's for Viktor." She said, in a small voice.

"Oh." Ron's eyes narrowed. "How is _Vicky_?"

"_Viktor_ is very well, thank you."

"Awww, too bad."

Ron closed his eyes ready for Hermione to roar at him, but instead, she walked slowly over to him and sat beside him. "Ron?" She asked, looking down at her hands. "I don't understand what you've got against Viktor? I mean what has he _done_ to you?"

"He hasn't _done_ anything to me? I just don't like the arrogant git! He thinks he can come here and take you away from… from us… just because he's famous and good-looking and all… well, he's got another thing coming!"

Hermione moved closer to Ron and put Ron's hand in her own. Ron looked down at their entwined hands and pressed his lips together, if he spoke, he was sure he would throw up.

"Ron, no one is taking me away from you. I've known Viktor for five minutes; I've known you for such a long time."

"Yeah but… but… you fancy him; he could get in the way, you know what its like when people start falling in love and stuff, it makes things complicated."

"Hold on, hold on… _love_? I do not love Viktor! I don't even fancy Viktor. Ron, I will always be here for you, you should know that, I hardly even know Viktor compared to you. I… I love you, Ron."

Careful not to say "I", Ron responded with a quick, "Yeah, WE love you too."

"We?" Hermione looked puzzled.

"Me and Harry."

"Oh... Oh yeah, course, I love Harry too." She removed his sweaty palm from her own hand, and sat back, looking down towards her knees. Ron thought he noticed a sort of disappointment on her face.

"What's up?" He asked, turning to face her.

"Nothing," she replied with a strained smile.

"You're not a very good liar, Hermione."

"No," she laughed dryly, "But honestly Ron, I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Ok, but you know, if you ever, you know…"

"Yeah, I do know. Thanks." She looked down again. Ron tried to think of something to say to break the silence, and then he remembered.

"So, you never did tell me what this dream of yours was about?"

"No. I didn't."

"So… come on… It will give us something to talk about," Ron prompted; desperate to know what her dream had been about. It had included him and them doing something they shouldn't. He _had_ to know more.

"I can't, it's silly and embarrassing."

"It's only a dream, it doesn't mean anything. You can tell _me_, can't you?"

"No, I can't, not you of all people." Hermione was blushing and did not make eye contact with Ron.

Ron felt a sudden rush of confidence flood throughout his body and he moved closer to Hermione. "So it was about me then?"

Hermione gulped, "Well, yes… it included you."

"Well now you have to tell me, don't you?"

"I can't!" She picked up a cushion of the sofa and buried her face in it. "It's just too embarrassing."

"Well you don't have to tell me the whole thing, just a bit of it, the bit about me?"

"It was all about you."

"Well, now I'm confused."

"Just drop it, please Ron."

"No! Now I really want to know, come on, tell me." There was silence. "Hermione?" No answer, "Ahhh, I get it. So you think if you ignore me, I might go away? Well that won't work," Ron sniggered; the sudden confidence inside of him seemed to be growing. "How about, if you tell me your dream, I'll tell you mine." Hermione looked up, frowning. "And it involves you by the way."

"Well you have to go first then."

"No, no, that's not the way it works and you know it, come on it can't be that bad."

"It's not bad, just embarrassing really. OK, OK. Can I hide my face in this then?" She asked, holding up the cushion.

"Sure." Ron's confidence disappeared as quickly as it had materialized, he didn't know where it had come from but he regretted having asked to know, he didn't think he wanted to know anymore, but there was a little voice in the back of his head that was telling him he would be pleased with the result. His heart was speeding in his chest and he had butterflies in his stomach.

"Well, me and you were kind of… you know?" Hermione mumbled, against the pillow.

"What?" Ron mouthed, he couldn't find his voice. "What?" He repeated, almost silently.

"Kissing." She buried her head even further into the cushion.

Ron didn't know what to say. He had hoped she would finish like this, but now he didn't know what to say. He was deeply confused, but it was sort of a relief that he knew she thought about the same thing that he did. "Oh," was all he could force out.

"Now you have to tell me your dream," she said, faintly.

"Oh, yeah… erm… the same thing really," he said, feeling his ears flush pink.

Hermione removed the pillow away from her face slowly, Ron looked at her face, even when she was purple with humiliation she was still beautiful. Ron gave her a nervous smile.

"Really?" She uttered.

He could only nod. Hermione grinned, and Ron saw a tear run down her left cheek. Without even thinking he moved his hand across her face to wipe it away. When his hand reached her face she looked down at it and took it in hers. Ron's arm stiffened but although he was nervous, he felt sort of relaxed; totally different now he knew he wasn't the only one with these strange feelings. He wanted to kiss her but he thought he might be moving a bit too fast. Instead, he pulled her hand towards his lips and kissed the back of her hand, still looking at her face, which was no longer beetroot, only slightly flushed in the cheeks. As he kissed her hand, he saw her eyes smile nervously and she put her knees onto the sofa in a sort of kneeling position, making it easier for her to face him. He followed her eyes and she leant in towards him, closing her eyes when she was only two inches away from his face. Ron panicked and it seemed like a lifetime had passed before her lips reached his own. Ron had never kissed anyone before, and he didn't really have a clue what he was doing, but it felt perfect, Hermione certainly knew how to take control, and it felt like his heart was swelling inside his chest.

All of a sudden, Ron heard footsteps coming from the girl's staircase. Startled, he pulled away from Hermione and slid down the couch, pulling her down behind the back of the sofa in order to hide from whoever it was. Ron peeked around the arm of the couch, with his finger on his lip, hushing Hermione, who was about to say something.

Ron saw Ginny reach the bottom of the stairs and tiptoe across the common room to the boy's staircase. She was going to see Harry, Ron thought, and he rolled his eyes, but it didn't have the same effect on him as usual.

When Ginny was safely out of site he turned back to Hermione. She was laying on top of him, propped up on one elbow, her other hand still attached to Ron, and she was glowing. They just stared at each other, vacantly, for a few seconds. Ron reached out to brush Hermione's curls behind her ear, and watched her eyes light up. Ron could not believe it. She looked even more beautiful tonight than she had at the Yule Ball two years ago. That night she had been unrecognisable. Ron liked the recognisable Hermione better. The recognisable Hermione had just shared a kiss with him, and was now staring into his eyes and smiling gently.

"This is so much better than the dream," Ron finally said out loud, after thinking it in his head for about ten minutes. Hermione lowered her head and brushed her lips against his once again. Ron had a feeling that he had never had before. He could not explain it; but he knew he wanted it to last forever. Hermione dragged her lips resentfully away from Ron's and placed her head on his chest. She was staring at their entwined hands and she began to play with Ron's fingers with her own.

Ron opened his eyes and found himself looking at the back of the sofa. He turned over to see the common room. He wasn't alone. Hermione was sitting at the table, her head on her hand, just staring at him. He sat up, and noticed that he was wrapped in a blanket.

"Morning…" Ron said, rubbing his eyes.

Hermione smiled timidly. "Sleep OK?"

"Yeah, for the first time in ages… Thanks Hermione." He got up, still wrapped in the blanket and went and sat next to her at the table. "Did you give me this?" He asked, gesturing to the blanket.

"Yeah… you looked a bit chilly when I woke up, so thought I'd give you it to keep you warm."

"I'd much rather you would have stayed cuddling me."

Hermione giggled shyly, "Me too, but we can't just lie here all day, we've got homework and stuff to do."

"But what if I don't want to do homework?" Ron asked, moving closer to Hermione and putting his arms around her waist. Normally he would never have dreamed of doing something like this, but after last night he felt like he could do or say anything to Hermione, without feeling an ounce of shame.

Hermione put her arms around Ron's neck. "Well… we don't always get what we want, do we Ronald?"

"I've got exactly what I want." Ron answered, wrapping the blanket around the both of them and placing a gentle kiss on her neck. Hermione turned and sat between Ron's legs, him still kissing her, everywhere but her lips. They knotted their hands together and sat there just cuddling. They didn't notice when footsteps came down the boy's staircase and entered the common room. Ron looked up to see Harry and Ginny holding hands at the bottom of the stairs, staring at both Hermione and himself. Both looked extremely shocked but pleased at the same time. Hermione jumped up and tried to think up an excuse.

"Hermione, it's OK," Ginny interrupted, "Everyone has seen this coming for a long time. Everyone, it seems, but you two. Until now at least, but it seems like you've both finally come to your senses at last… so carry on. No one will be surprised, just relieved that you have finally seen the light!" She laughed out loud and Harry grinned and put his arm around Ginny.

Ginny insisted that Hermione follow her to the girl's dormitory. Ron's eyes followed her to the foot of the stairs and out of sight. Harry sat opposite Ron with a huge grin on his face. Ron sighed deeply.

"So…?" Harry asked. Ron replied with another sigh. "That good eh?"

"Harry mate… it was… it was amazing," and with that Ron returned Harry's grin with any even bigger one.

Ron had never felt like this before. Today, Ron felt as if he could face up to anything. Even Malfoy and whatever exaggerated story he had come up with.

Ron spent the next half an hour walking Harry through every little detail of the night before; he wasn't ashamed as he would have thought, but rather proud that his dreams had literally come true.

Ginny and Hermione returned down the stairs and all four of them beamed at each other. They walked to the great hall for breakfast in pairs, holding hands proudly. Every Gryffindor they passed on the way to the hall smirked at Ron and Hermione and the Fat Lady greeted them with, "About bloody time too."


End file.
